Communication scholarship impact reality check: a comparison of SSCI journals’ research orientations and citation metrics
Abstract This study examines 4,313 research articles published in 94 Social Science Citation Indexed (SSCI) communication journals in October 2020-September 2021 to determine the journals’ research orientations and compare how journal-level attributes affect the three major citation metrics: Journal Impact Factor (JIF), SCImago Journal Ranking (SJR), and H5-indexes. Quantitative orientation and technology-related focus are the two most important journal attribute predictors of JIF. Journals publishing both quantitative and qualitative research in balanced proportion have the highest citation metrics in SJR and H5-index but not JIF. Our study also documents the continuing dominance of English language journals and publishers in communication scholarship.
Authors
- Louisa Ha (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0223-368X)
- Enamul Kabir (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6157-2753)
- Michael F. Ofori (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2341-7514)
- Felicity Sena Dogbatse
- Amir Khan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3505-6680)
- Shafiqul Islam Khan
Institutions
- University of Minnesota (US)
- Bowling Green State University (US)
- Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York (US)
- University of Maryland, College Park (US)
- Clemson University (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Annals of the International Communication Association
- Published
- 2025-05-25
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1093/anncom/wlaf004
- Primary Topic
- Public Relations and Crisis Communication
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00